


Cecilos Being Cute

by stuck_in_the_void



Category: Night Vale - Fandom, Nightvale - Fandom, Welcome to Night Vale, podcast - Fandom, wtnv
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Canon Autistic Character, Carlos the Scientist has autism, Cecil Palmer has ADHD, Cecilos Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Smut, Slow Burn, all for that, all my fav headcanons too, but trust me the fluff is top notch, cecilos - Freeform, coffee shop AU, okay maybe the slow burn isnt that slow, you couldnt possibly be more like
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-12 04:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18439040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stuck_in_the_void/pseuds/stuck_in_the_void
Summary: Cecil and Carlos meeting when they were younger and being their aborkable selves.





	1. The Coffee Shop

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Welcome to Night Vale](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/471980) by Joseph Fink and Jeffory Crainer. 



The man came running through the glass doors, as he often did, completely out of breath, long perfect hair flying behind him and several folders and loose pieces of paper in hand.

“One Double Ristretto Venti Half-Soy Nonfat Decaf Organic Chocolate Brownie Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino Extra Hot with Foam Whipped Cream Upside Down Double Blended, One Nutrasweet and Ice please.” The man gasped for breath at the end of his impossibly long order.

Across from the out of breath man with skin like Autumn leaves was another man, already with his order in hand. “You know, I’m starting to get worried about your coffee dependency Batman. You come in here every day at the exact same time, each day with a different name.”

The man who was just called Batman became noticeably redder in the cheeks and nose – it was obvious this was not due to his recent sprint. “Haha, well you know, whenever you get the chance to be Batman, you should take it.” He smiled awkwardly which showed teeth like a military cemetery.

“Did you use the same idea in being Mr Stark, The Secret Police and Lee Marvin?”

“Why not?” he said through an awkward smile, “Though I did upset the Secret Police for using their name when I am not actually one of them. Three came to my apartment to give me disapproving looks.”

“Haha, I’ve had that happen a couple of times as well,” said the man across the counter who could not help but notice how flustered the other man’s hair made him. The man across the counter had also been practicing what he was about to say next in the mirror before work. “So, I’m not usually this forward but I would really love to know your real name because, well, you’re cute and the Secret Police also gave me disproving looks since calling out ‘Secret Police’ startled many undercover cops in the shop.” The man stumbled on his words even though he had practiced them repeatedly all morning.

“Sorry about getting you in trouble with them…” The man with red cheeks looked at the other man’s chest in confusion, “…where’s your name tag?”

“I didn’t think it would be fair to let you know my name before I knew yours, so I took it off.”

“Oh, er, fair enough, I’m sorry again for-” The man with long dark hair jumped as the door opened and shut behind him. “Oh Nilanjana, there you are!” “Yeah Carlos?” “I need to talk to you about the experiment I’ve been working on! I was hoping you could help me with…” His voice became distant as he stumbled off absent mindedly, on a new tangent. The man behind the counter had often watched him skip from one task to another, unable to focus, before getting so engrossed in one subject he would sit there for hours before jumping up and running wherever he went whenever he ran off. The man knew what it was like not to be able to focus until he accidentally hyper focused on the something completely different to what he needed to get done and this characteristic had immediately endeared the man to him. The barista smiled as he realised, he had finally managed to catch his name…

Carlos.

How absolutely exceptional.

 

\-----

 

Later that day…

A man with perfect hair stood in front of his whiteboard covered in numbers contemplating many science problems when it suddenly struck him that he never did tell the cute man with three eyes at the coffee shop his name! Carlos sat there with the feeling in his stomach that he had done something very very wrong. He had been meaning to compliment the barista on his tattoos every time he came into the café but had managed to get distracted or forget every time.

“Do you think that.. maybe… he was hitting on me?” thought Carlos. “No... no that couldn’t be the case.”

After half an hour of thoughts like this he finally decided that the barista was just being friendly.

Reaching to take another sip of now cold coffee he suddenly realised that where there was usually a ridiculous name scrawled in black pen was now a phone number. “Oh flaming beakers. I’m going to have to call him, now aren’t I?”

 

\-----

 

The phone was slippery with sweat as Carlos ran through what he was going to say another couple of times. Calling people was a stressful experience for him but he really wanted to talk to the man with such gorgeous eyes. After taking a few deep breaths he began typing the numbers yet again. Carlos was never good at words. He was good at numbers. Numbers never changed in their meanings. The numbers that he dialled contained many of his personal favourites which made Carlos finally hit call. They were good numbers. They wouldn’t let him down.

Carlos’ heart thumped in his ears as the phone began to ring. “Ah hey, um, it’s er, the guy from the coffee shop… you know the one that does the funny names on the cups, I usually come in in the morning, sometimes-“

“Hey. I know who you are.” The barista’s voice was low and made Carlos feel both calm and extremely flustered.

“Ohh right well, I just thought you should know that, um my name is Carlos.”

“Nice to meet you Carlos. My name’s Cecil. Would you like to go out sometime?”

“Oh you mean for coffee or something?”

“No, not coffee. I was thinking maybe dinner?”

“Oh… I’d like that.”

Maybe he just wanted to be friends.

 

\-----

 

The restaurant was nice. Very nice. There were waiters in uniform and tables with clothes and fish with hats and candles everywhere. Carlos quickly swore magnesium oxide under his breath as he regretted wearing his informal lab coat.

“Hey Carlos, over here!”

An arm covered in the most gorgeous tattoos gestured him over. He could have sworn that his right arm was covered in an octopus last time but now it seemed to be covered in eyes, some blinking, some not. They went through the normal pleasantries and Carlos felt comforted by the scripted beginning. He could have listened to Cecil talk forever. But the conversation soon began to lull, and Carlos began to panic.

“So, um, I want to tell a joke, but I only remember the punch line.” He felt compelled to curl into a ball after saying such an idiotic thing, but Cecil seemed unfazed.

“I don’t mind, go ahead.”

It wasn’t too late for him to change the subject, ask about anything but this, but Carlos’ mouth didn’t seem to be listening to his thoughts. “Tooth-hurty.”

The words ‘Idiot!’ spiralled around Carlos’ head but without missing a beat Cecil laughed casually and replied, “when is the best time to go to the dentist?”

Carlos had never heard anything more beautiful, “…you complete me,” he whispered.

“Huh?” Carlos sighed with relief realising that Cecil hadn’t heard him say that out loud.

He began to say, “Oh I just thought of a hypothesis about-”

Before Cecil interrupted with, “Don’t you mean your science headcanon?”

Carlos was confused by this for a moment but when Cecil repeated, “Science headcanon,” again Carlos began to realise something.

“My science headcanon, is that you are a pretty great person.”

Cecil smiled and Carlos felt his stomach turn to moths. One of Cecil’s tattoos winked at him.

“I think you’re a pretty great person too.”

“So, since you’re a scientist and all, I am always looking to learn more about that stuff. Because I am very into science.” He was. Cecil had dreamt about science quite vividly last night. “So like this,” Cecil picked up his glass, “what chemical is this?”

“…That’s a glass of water.”

“Oh.. neat!” Cecil began to inspect the glass with all three of his eyes in a way in which he thought looked Very Science-y.

“Oh hexenone!” Carlos exclaimed as Cecil accidently knocked the glass over.

“Oh blood stones I’m so clumsy, sorry.”

Cecil quickly used up all the napkins near him as he threw them at the puddle forming on the carpet.

“No it’s okay, I knock stuff over all the time, here.” Carlos dug through his bag until he found a towel that he handed to Cecil. But as he looked over at Cecil his face had changed. “What’s wrong?”

“You just pulled out three notepads and a candle stick before grabbing an entire towel out of your bag?”

“Oh yeah well, you never know when you’ll need things. I’d never leave my house without my towel.”

Cecil took the towel suspiciously and used to wipe up the remaining mess. When he was done, he inquired, “What else do you have in there?”

“Oh, er… you know, gunpowder, nitroglycerin, notepads, fuses, a button, glue, and… paper clips, big ones. A few different sizes of string. You know, just, uh, science supplies.”

The eyeball tattoos on Cecil’s wished it had eyebrows so it could raise them.

“You really are prepared for anything,” Cecil said.


	2. Movie Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecil and Carlos being really freaking cute going on a date to the movies.

Of course it was only the third date. Usually at this point these things wouldn’t even be that big of a deal. But it was. Because in his heart Cecil knew how much this meant to him. Carlos loved Marvel movies and even though time didn’t really work in Night Vale, Marvel movies still seemed to appear every now and again.

“Hey Cecil!”

Carlos was waiting in front of the cinema in his favourite hot pink lab coat. Cecil could feel his stomach turn to mush every time he saw Carlos and his perfect perfect hair.

They chatted a bit about what each of them had been up to since the last time they see each other a week ago. Carlos only ever referred to their dates as ‘hanging out’ and it worried Cecil to think that Carlos didn’t take their relationship as serious as he did. Cecil couldn’t stop thinking about him and was nervous about whether Carlos felt the same.

After they got their tickets Carlos poked Cecil in the arm in a serious way.

“So, Cecil, I have to tell you something before we go in. These movies are _very_ scientifically inaccurate. They are _still_ lots of fun, but I hope you are able to sit through the errors that they make regarding time travel, space, the general laws of physics and gravity, oh and particularly how much blood the human body can contain.”

Carlos looked relieved as Cecil said, “That’s okay Carlos, I won’t mind.”

As they walked into the comforting darkness of the cinema, Carlos brushed his hand up against Cecil’s.

On their last date Carlos had mentioned occasionally not really enjoying physical contact and Cecil hands were sweaty just at the thought of making him uncomfortable but he also really wanted to grab Carlos and pull him closer.

For Carlos just the slight brush of their hands felt so calming in its warmth. Both of their minds raced through many possible terrible outcomes to grabbing the other’s hand but as they sat beside each other Carlos knew Cecil was a person he’d be comfortable being close to.

They were both anxious about the closeness of their bodies as the opening credits began and Carlos gently slid his fingers between Cecil’s.

After their awkward conversation on physical intimacy this was the last thing Cecil was expecting but he felt tight in the chest not only from this show of affection that Cecil had been craving but also the way Carlos must feel for him if he was willing to touch him. All doubts about whether Carlos wanted to be with him left his mind.

Cecil turned towards Carlos with a grin that he did not realise he was wearing and felt his heart beat loud in his ears as Carlos returned the expression of joy that both felt at this simple affectionate gesture. Cecil felt surprised every time he saw Carlos smile and not just because he has teeth like a military cemetery but also because he knew in his bones that he would do absolutely anything to see that smile again and again. Carlos turned his head back to the movie, but Cecil was transfixed on Carlos’ perfect hair and delicate skin.

Over the next two and half hours Cecil took in practically none of the film as he was preoccupied with every perfect movement that Carlos made. Every time a character was in trouble Carlos would grip his hand tighter and every time it was loud Carlos moved just a little bit closer to him. Cecil knew the loud noises probably hurt Carlos and he hated that but most of all he hated how he enjoyed it each time Carlos’ warmth would get closer to his own and wished that it was just a bit louder so that their shoulders would touch.

Carlos, on the other hand, has completely engrossed within the movie. Of course science was his first love, but Marvel certainly came a close second. Usually anything going against logic annoyed him (unless it was science related because he knew that with more work, he would eventually be able to find some logic to it), but these movies didn’t upset him at all. He loved the characters so deeply but as a few began yelling, his skull began to hurt. In this moment of pain Carlos pulled himself towards Cecil so that their sides were touching.

Cecil was surprised but with permission for intimacy seeming to be granted, he lent into Carlos more. Carlos liked the way Cecil’s skin moved against his from the constant movement of his leg that vibrated his whole body. As he sunk into him, a feeling of safety and excitement washed over him. Carlos was also surprised at himself for being so forward with the sudden need for Cecil’s body to be near him. Carlos knew that physical affection was commonly expected when people went on dates but even with the people he was closest to, this was something that took a long time to occur. He felt bad for mentioning his touch aversion to Cecil on his last date now that his skin seemed so happy to be right next to Cecil’s.

As he rested his head on Cecil’s shoulder, Carlos felt at home.


	3. A Home Cooked Meal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos has invited Cecil over for a home cooked meal.

Cecil’s mind raced as he stood in front of the bright red door and took some deep breaths. Carlos had seemed so casual, inviting him over for a home-cooked meal. The meal they had after going out to the movies wasn’t amazing and Carlos seemed adamant he could cook something better for Cecil. But the entire concept of cooking seemed so hopelessly romantic to Cecil, since he almost never cooked himself. There was also something nerve racking about seeing someone’s space for the first time. He thought he could really tell a lot about a person from how they lived.

The door swung open just a few seconds after he finished knocking which made Carlos anxious about whether he opened it too soon or if it made him seem like he was to eager to see Cecil. Cecil on the other hand was glad that he didn’t need to wait outside awkwardly any longer.

Cecil saw Carlos in his casual lab coat and immediately stepped forward with the intention of hugging him before he stopped himself, no, he didn’t want to make Carlos uncomfortable. They greeted each other and as the door shut Carlos put his arms around him. Carlos hadn’t stopped thinking about Cecil’s warmth since their last date to the movies and it felt so comforting to finally be able rest his head against Cecil’s chest. His ear was placed right against Cecil’s heart and he could feel how fast it was beating.

Neither knew how long they stood there but it felt simultaneously like years and seconds. Too long but not long enough.

The moist air from his breath tickled Carlos’ ear as Cecil whispered, “so, what are we having?”

These words were spoken softly but it seemed to break Carlos out of the warm trance he was in. “Oh, I was thinking about making pasta. I have a sauce that-”

“Pasta?!” As Cecil said this Carlos took a step back from him automatically but immediately regretted leaving the comfort of his arms.

“Ah, yeah, do you not like pasta?” Carlos hands suddenly felt sweaty at the thought of making the wrong thing.

“That’s a wheat by-product!”

“Yeah…?”

“That’s _illegal_ Carlos! I don’t even know how you would have gotten a hold of it unless you bribed Big Rico or something?”

“What?”

“Oh right, yeah, you’re an interloper.” Cecil felt bad for having such a strong immediate reaction trained into him for the avoidance of wheat and wheat by-products when Carlos was still new in town. “Wheat and wheat by-products are illegal, they even have special cells _without_ HBO in the abandoned mine shaft for people processing pasta.”

“Oh, well, if we can’t have pasta then I don’t really have another main meal planned?”

Cecil felt bad for mentioning the legality issues around wheat and wheat by-products now that it seemed to be making Carlos panic, “um,” was all he was able to say in response.

“Actually! I did just start putting together this cake for dessert and I might just have some flour substitute around here somewhere, would you be okay just having desert?”

“Absolutely!”

“I’m sorry I don’t really have anything else.”

“No, its fine really, I prefer dessert anyway.”

“Cool, well, you can sit down on the couch over here while I finish the mix and get it in the oven?”

They walked together down the hallway and the apartment opened up into a cosy room with a small worn couch and TV to the right and a simple kitchen to the left. Carlos began to pull beakers out of the cupboard and poured strange substances into a bowl already filled with a thick brown sludge.

Without thinking Cecil questioned Carlos about what he was doing but immediately regretted it, thinking that maybe he had offended him. Carlos didn’t realise what Cecil was surprised about since keeping all the cake ingredients in beakers with rubber stoppers did not seem odd to him at all. Immediately Cecil decided to change the topic before he began to offend Carlos unintentionally.

“So do you bake a lot?”

Carlos hadn’t thought what he said was offensive at all but was fine to change the topic. “I love to bake! It’s just science that you’re allowed to eat,” he said while dipping his finger into the mixture and licking it off as if to demonstrate. “That’s not to say I don’t lick the other bits of science I come in contact with, it’s a part of a proper scientific method after all.”

This excited Cecil and he jumped up from the couch and went to dip his finger in the mixture too. “How neat!” he said as he realised that Carlos really was good at cooking as the mixture tasted just fabulous. “Can I do anything to help?”

“You can help me pour it into this tin if you like?”

“Sure!” Cecil enjoyed feeling helpful as he scraped the mixture into the cake tin while Carlos poured it. An unedited thought suddenly popped into Cecil’s head and without any for-thought he said, “I like your pants.” Cecil immediately regretted this and thought that he was starting to make himself look stupid in front of Carlos.

Carlos just thought this was a nice compliment since he had only just bought them, “thanks,” he said, “they were 20% off.”

Again without thinking all three of Cecil’s eyes avoided Carlos’ as he said, “I wish they were 100% off.”

“The store can’t just sell stuff for free.”

“No that’s-”

“That’s a terrible way to run a business Cecil.”

Cecil agreed before he accidentally forced himself to explain that he was attempting to flirt with him. Carlos mentally noted to never let Cecil run a business.

“I like your tattoos today by the way.” Carlos always admired Cecil’s ever-changing tattoos and thought it was appropriate to return a compliment. “The dragon looks really cool.”

“What do you mean ‘today’?” said Cecil in mild confusion, “it’s not like my tattoos ever change?”

“Huh?” Now both of them were confused. “What do you mean? Every time I see you your right arm has a different design on it?”

“I think you might be a bit mistaken there Carlos, my tattoos are the same every day.”

“Oh,” was all Carlos could say. It’s not like he could prove that Cecil was wrong even though he could have sworn it was always a different design.

“Ooo Carlos! I just remembered about that experiment you were talking about last week! How’d it end up going?” Cecil immediately felt like he’d interrupted Carlos with this sudden thought but when he saw Carlos’ face light up as he began talking about his experiment, he relaxed a bit.

“So as you know the machine wouldn’t flash, bang and whir in the right order.”

“Yeah.”

“But Nilanjana and I figured that if we moved some of the wiring and cogs around we could get it to whir, flash, bang!” As he said bang he flapped his hands about so much that he hit Cecil in the shoulder. “Oh sorry, I’m just excited. We’ve been working on it for months now and it’s really nice to see it working how we imagined it.”

Cecil couldn’t help grinning. Carlos’ excitement was contagious when he talked about his projects, but he was disappointed with himself when all he managed to say was, “That is just _so_ neat!”

“How about you? How’s your internship at the radio station going?”

“Oh it’s going so wonderfully! Yesterday the studio did seem to fill up with these black eyes messenger children from the city council all chanting ‘ANTS’ and the day before that I was almost stabbed by deer but other then that its been mostly mundane getting coffee and stuff. Though I am a bit annoyed that my internship means that I still have to get coffee for people, that’s already my part-time job so it’s not really what I want to be doing more of.”

“Well at least you’re still alive. I saw a geologist screaming at a meteorologist the other day outside my lab that was saying that most interns die or disappear within their first week!”

“I guess that’s true, but I’ve been around two weeks now, which means I’m doing pretty good.”

“I know being a radio broadcaster is your dream, but journalism is such a dangerous career, it makes me worried about you…”

“You worry about me?”

“Ah, yeah of course. You and Nilanjana have been the only welcoming people here since I arrived. It’s been so lonely but you’re such a nice boyfriend it makes me forget that. I’d hate to lose you.” Carlos avoided Cecil’s eyes. Sharing how he felt was always difficult.

But Cecil’s mind had stopped processing after Carlos called him his ‘boyfriend.’ His several trains of current thought all seemed to collide and begin to burn. After what could have been years but was likely a few seconds Cecil said, “Are we? Am I your…? Is this? Do you mean that in a close-friend-who-happens-to-be-a-boy way or a this-is-a-proper-relationship way?”

Carlos hadn’t meant to call him his boyfriend and a panic over whether he also liked him that way came along unsolicited. “What, um, what way do you want me-”

Cecil couldn’t help but immediately interrupt saying, “In a romantic-y way?”

The butterflies in Carlos’ stomach immediately became birds with sharp beaks and claws. “Me too,” he said as he decided that the best way to calm down was probably by putting his head on Cecil’s chest.

Initially this surprised Cecil but soon he wrapped his large arms around Carlos’ short person and whispered, “Neat,” in Carlos’ ear.

Neither knew how long they both stood there, comforted by each other’s warmth. But moments or years later, the timer on the oven rang. Carlos took a quick last whiff of Cecil’s reassuring smell as he untangled himself from the embrace.


End file.
